3/30/2005 09:46:00 AM|||Laura|||
The voice said, Cry! And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the beauty of it is as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the Spirit of Jehovah blows on it; surely the people is grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the Word of our God shall stand forever. Go up for yourself on the high mountain, bringer of good tidings to Zion. Lift up your voice with strength, O you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem; lift up, do not be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those with young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and measured out the heavens with a span? And who has shut up the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of Jehovah, and what man taught Him counsel? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and made known the way of understanding to Him? Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the scales; behold, He takes up the coastlands as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not enough to burn, nor the beasts of it enough for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as nothing; and to Him they are thought to be less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will you compare God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? The workman melts a graven image, and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold, and casts silver chains. He too poor for that offering chooses a tree that will not rot; he looks for a skillful workman to prepare a graven image that will not totter. Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits on the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in; who brings the rulers to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth as vanity. Yes, they shall not be planted; yes, they shall not be sown. Yes, their stump shall not take root in the earth. And He shall also blow on them, and they shall wither, and the tempest shall take them away like stubble. To whom then will you compare Me, or am I equaled? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold, who has created these, who brings out their host by number? He calls them all by names by the greatness of His might, for He is strong in power; not one is lacking. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hidden from Jehovah and my judgment has passed over from my God? Have you not known? Have you not heard, that the everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not grow weak nor weary? There is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the weary; and to him with no vigor; He increases strength. Even the young shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; but those who wait on Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
(Isa 40:6-31 MKJV)
There are so many verses in the bible that illustrate what God's perspective is in comparison to our perspective. This one, like God's response to Job, really hones in on my vanity and pride, and how baseless it is. The grass withers, the flower fades. Certainly physically I don't bear much resemblance to the woman I was 20 years ago - and it's not going to get any better, believe me. Gravity works. And my works; websites I've built, things I have written or painted, all the things I spend my time on here, will not last. To the Lord, the nations are like a drop in the bucket. "It is He who sits on the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in; who brings the rulers to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth as vanity." When I really meditate on these verses, and try to get some understanding on just how puny and trivial I am in comparison to the rest of God's creation, much less to God Himself, it's kind of mind boggling. Not quite a moment in the Total Perspective Vortex, but getting there... just a glimmer of God's awesomeness. This is why God did not let Moses look directly at him, but hid him in the cleft of the rock. Isaiah got a glimpse of God's glory and said, "I am undone!"

And yet... His mercy was extended to me, the blade of grass that is no better than billions of other blades of grass on the planet who have not received His mercy. I am lucky enough to possess the eternal winning Powerball ticket of salvation. I didn't earn it and don't deserve it and I never will.
O Jehovah my God, I cried to You, and You have healed me. O Jehovah, You have brought up my soul from the grave; You have kept me alive, so that I should not go down to the Pit. Sing praises to Jehovah, O you saints of His, and give thanks at the memory of His holiness.
(Psa 30:2-4 MKJV)

|||111219849935094706|||The Total Perspective Vortex